Redondo Beach police report names “out of policy” incidents in use of violence
Bruises on the arm of a female suspect who was wrestled to the ground for resisting and fighting with personnel, including jailer Ashley Knight, at the Redondo Beach Jail in 2016. An internal complaint against Knight was sustained, resulting in disciplinary action. Photos courtesy Redondo Beach Police
Late on New Year’s Eve, 2015, Redondo Beach Police Officer responded to a disturbance on the 1700 block of Camino de la Costa. There, Redondo officers encountered their suspect.
According to incident reports, police were called to the scene by the woman suspect’s boyfriend, who complained that she had too much to drink, and was becoming verbally abusive.
After initially agreeing to head home in a cab, she got belligerent, then violent, leading officers to arrest her for public intoxication, according to the RBPD report. On the way to Redondo jail, she unbuckled her seatbelt and tried kicking out the squad car’s windows. Once at the jail, she began attempting to hit officers and refused to give up a pen to RBPD jailer Ashley Knight. After Knight snatched the pen from her and attempted to take control of her hand, the suspect dug her fingernails into Knight’s hand.
In response, Knight and fellow jailer Jesse Recinos wrestled her to the ground, holding her until backup arrived, according to reports.
Knight suffered small scratches to her fingers. The suspect showed scrapes and bruises on her head, arms, and knees.
The incident between the woman and Knight was, out of 114 total incidents where Redondo officers used force on a suspect, the only incident deemed out-of-policy to generate an internal affairs investigation. It was one of two total incidents found to be out of department policy.
RBPD’s annual Use-of-Force Report, now in its second year, is the result of a Redondo Beach Police Chief Keith Kauffman’s commitment to departmental transparency. Shortly after Kauffman was hired on for Redondo’s top job from Hawthorne PD, he implemented recommendations from the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing.
“I believe in transparency. There’s no reason to hide what you’re doing,” Kauffman said. “The public has difficulties understanding what it is we’re actually faced with.”
When it comes to use of force, public opinion seems more divided than ever, as high-profile cases involving shootings or deadly reactions to Tasers have led to increased scrutiny.
The incident involving Knight wasn’t the only use of force determined to fall outside of department policy.
On Sept. 23, Officer Lauren McNeely deployed a kinetic energy projectile — a beanbag round — to subdue a male suspect who was attempting to flee police. The man had a history as being violent and aggressive with police, and according to reports, had recently threatened police.
As officers attempted to arrest the man for possessing a controlled substance, he ripped away from police. From three yards out, McNeely shot the male suspect in the right shoulder with the beanbag projectile. The suspect was then taken in with no further issue, under suspicion of being under the influence of methamphetamine.
“I think she did a phenomenal job,” Kauffman said in reviewing the report, noting the report’s level of detail in discussing Officer McNeely’s thought process and use of the beanbag, waiting for distance and proper targeting before firing.
Bruising on the back of a male suspect, who was shot with a beanbag as he attempted to escape from officers. The incident, listed as out of department policy, will be considered as part of RBPD force training going forward, Redondo Beach Police Chief Keith Kauffman said.
The incident was marked on RBPD’s Use of Force report as requiring further training, though Kauffman said that, in this case, it was not due to misuse of the beanbag weapon.
“In this case, there was planning that went ahead for the actual action taken,” Kauffman said. “Going forward, there might be another option than just using the beanbag — a lot of it has to do with communication of the shift going out there to handle the incident.”
That, Kauffman said, is a key benefit to the department with regards to Use of Force situations. Often, these same incidents are used in training to improve departmental knowledge and skills.
“It’s complicated, what we’re asking officers to do,” Kauffman said. “Come up with a plan in a split-second and execute that plan; sometimes it was okay, and it can be better…there are so many ways to mitigate cases and force that it’s good to take a fresh look at what else we can do.”
Under department policy, the force needs to be objectively reasonable, according to the officer’s level of training and experience.
In the case of Knight and the female suspect, the subject is difficult for the department to discuss. An internally-circulated complaint regarding Knight’s use of force against the female suspect was sustained, resulting in disciplinary action.
However, the result of that action is under seal, due to state employee protection laws. Currently, Knight and RBPD are in arbitration, which is closed to the public at Knight’s request.
Jailers are non-sworn civilian positions, but they are required to undergo a 200 hour course upon hiring and to take 24 hours of training per year.
Non-sworn employees are not represented by the Police Officer’s Association, and Knight has retained her own representation for arbitration. However, Kauffman confirmed that she is still employed by RBPD, as she has been since 2009.
As for what sustained the internal affairs complaint against Knight, that is also under seal. Holly Short, a representative for the Redondo Beach City Employees Association, which represents RBPD’s non-sworn employees, declined comment.